In Brief
This appeal concerns whether the 1984 amendment to Section 13 of the Rajasthan Colonization Act, which removed "will" from modes of property transfer requiring State Government permission, applies retrospectively to a will executed in 1978 without such permission. The Supreme Court held that although the amendment might have been clarificatory, it cannot have retrospective effect because doing so would validate a void instrument to the detriment of the testator's brothers who inherited the property through intestate succession. The Court dismissed the appeal, affirming that the will remained void and permission under the original Section 13 was necessary.
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